Hog Wild Bar-B-Que — Restaurant in Placerville

I recently dropped into Hog Wild BBQ in Placerville, CA. It wasn't my first time and definitely won't be my last. Sure they changed owner in 2018, but the recipes are mainly the same. Still delicious! Plus they added additional desserts. House-made mini pies, cobblers, cakes, and brownies. Yes please.

The current owners kept the tradition of Texas BBQ and majority of the recipes. Heck if it ain't broke, why fix it. They do BBQ right ... slow n low in their wood smoker to get that beautiful bark, deep flavor, and tender moist meats. My fave is the brisket. They smoke the brisket for 16 hours. Oh man, it's delicious. They serve the brisket sliced or chopped. The pulled pork, chicken breast, four kinds of sausages, baby back ribs, and St Louis style ribs are delicious as well. It's Texas BBQ style which is dry smoked and served with sauce on the side. They make their own sauces, they got original, spicy, and chipotle. The sauces don't have HFCS in it.

We dropped in on a weekend, about 2:30pm. They close at 5pm on the weekends or until sold out. The hours are painted on their window sign including verbiage stating ... or until sold out. And this place is so popular, they do sell out of a lot of items. It makes sense that they would, since they make fresh almost everything. No freezing stuff for microwaving here. No sir. They were out of sliced brisket, both kinds of ribs, and sides of mashed potatoes, pinto beans, cornbread, and green beans. So we landed on ordering a chopped brisket sandwich with sides of potato salad and coleslaw to share. The staff were awesome. Super upbeat, positive attitude even while dealing with grouchy hangry customers.

The chopped brisket had a gorgeous bark, flavorful. Moist smoky brisket. Served naked without being sauced. Each table had bottles of BBQ sauce. Original, spicy, and chipotle. I tried all the sauces, all darn amazing. The coleslaw was tasty as was the potato salad. Tasty but not omg. Odd though, that they didn't provide napkins. The only napkins were the thin flimsy ones in the prepackaged plastic utensil sets provided on each table. For a BBQ joint, outta have more napkins.

Speaking about seating, the indoor dining area is limited to about seven 4 seater tables and 4 person bar counter. They have local beers on tap, nice selection. They have an outdoor patio as well,...

The flavor of the BBQ was delicious! The Ribs were delicious and deserved 5 stars. My husband and I try the ribs, pulled pork, and brisket at every BBQ place we try. The brisket had more fat than meat. It should have been trimmed before being served. It was served sitting on a thin layer of grease. I've never had this much fat served with the brisket in 35 years of my adult life. The pulled pork had almost as much fat as the brisket, however it was swimming in the layer of grease at the bottom.

That alone would have only dropped this to 3 stars. :)

My real issue was, when I placed my order, I stated that I was allergic to bread and croutons. I ordered a salad with just lettuce and cheese, salad dressing on the side because I am allergic to croutons. I heard our server tell the cook, special salad, just lettuce and cheese (no reason why). The salad came out perfect. The meal is apparently served with a roll even though the menu does not state this. The menu allows you to order corn bread, but no other mention of bread. When my meat arrived there was a roll on the plate. When I re-stated that I was allergic to bread, she asked if I was going to eat it. When I said no, she asked my husband if he wanted it. The roll was touching the plate, the meat, and the BBQ sauce!

Our server left the table when my husband said he would eat it. By then my husband and I had figured out how I would eat part of my meal. That would reduce the rating by one star.

The last reduction of stars is because our server is the owner. The owner of a food establishment should know something about food allergies. They might even enforce some sort of training for all of...

I have mixed feelings after my first visit here. They may have had an off day as the joint was jumping at five o'clock on a weekday. Took about 20 minutes to get my order to go. Who goes out to eat at 5pm on a weekday?

Anyway... ordered to go; 2 meat plate w/2 sides (baby back ribs, brisket, cole slaw, and corn bread). This was a lot of food and half the brisket went into the fridge for maybe a sandwich tomorrow.

When I got home I took a quick sample of the brisket. I found it a little too fatty and a bit underdone for me. The ribs also 'looked' a bit the same. No problem, as I planned to reheat it a bit later and I just left the meat in the oven a bit longer (about 25 minutes at 350).

After a visit with the oven, both the ribs and the brisket were great. Ribs were fall off the bone tender, and the brisket was much more appetizing with a little more cooking time. Very tasty, but brings me to the conclusion that if I was served this there, I would have either had to send it back (something I rarely ever do), or just be pretty unhappy with my food.

The slaw and corn bread were OK, but nothing special. I will try the beans and/or potato salad next time.

On exiting the parking lot I saw a sign which may explain why this place was jumping on a weekday afternoon... "$2 Taco Tuesday". Nothing like cheap to get them rolling through the doors like oranges.

I will definitely try this place again (just not on a Tuesday), and ask for edge cuts if possible.

Update: Since my first visit here I am upping the place to 5 stars. Loving the baby back plate so much I order it almost every visit. The sides have been improved as well....